Isaiah 23:8 Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes… This passage reveals to us the estimation in which merchants were held in ancient time. Tyre was celebrated for her commerce. Her traders were renowned because of their wealth. The treasure they amassed gave them rank and position. They were influential and honoured. Trade was not regarded in old time as a menial, but a noble pursuit. The ambitious entered into it as a means to gratify their ambition. It furnished them with a field in which to exercise their faculties and develop their powers. Subsequently the sword gave rank and power, — valour, and not ability, lifted men to thrones: but before the feudal age, in the ancient time, and among the older civilisations, "merchants were princes, and traffickers were the honourable of the earth." (W. H. Murray.) Parallel Verses KJV: Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? |
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